French Onion Soup Grilled Cheese Sandwich

At first when I came up with the idea of a French onion grilled cheese sandwich I thought I was being original.  Turns out loads of people had though of it before me which suggests that this sandwich is a pretty good idea!  I couldn’t believe how similar it tasted to the actual soup.  The bread slices were the croutons, the melted gruyere and wine/beef stock braised onions all came together to fool my brain into thinking I was eating the real soup.  The only thing difficult about this recipe is eating it because those onions are pretty slippery.  I used potato bread which is what I had on hand but a nice crusty baguette would work nicely.  The sandwich was so tasty and really easy to put together (except for the onions that kept slipping out).  I look forward to having this again!

French Onion Soup Grilled Cheese Sandwich
Adapted from Tastespotting
(makes 3 sandwiches)
Printable Version

Ingredients:

• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tbsp butter
• 2 slices of french baguette or french bread
• about 3-4 oz. gruyere, thinly sliced
• 2 large yellow onions (or 3 medium onions), thinly sliced
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 tsp thyme, or 2 sprigs fresh thyme
• 1/4 cup white wine
• 1/4 cup beef stock
• salt and pepper to taste
• 6 slices potato bread or baguette

Directions:

1. Heat the butter and olive oil in a pan. On medium heat add the onions and garlic. Stir to coat the onions in oil and cook for 3-4 minutes.
2. Add the thyme and bay leaf and turn down the heat to medium low.
3. Cook for 30-40 minutes on low-medium low until the onions are golden brown but not burned.
4. Stir in the white wine and beef stock and cook for another 5-7 minutes.
5. Add the cheese slices onto the bread. Add a few tablespoons of the onions on top and grill over a buttered pan or with a panini/foreman grill. Grill until the cheese has melted, about 5 minutes.